ANY EXCUSE TO BRING BACK BIG CHRIS AND BIG WYATT
by CJM43
Summary: When a spell goes terribly wrong, Baby Chris and Baby Wyatt are aged 22 years.
1. Default Chapter

_I am not a fan of Charmed episodes where a spell goes wrong and the sisters regress in age, but I am so desperate to see an episode where Drew Fuller and Wes Ramsey appear together again, I would even consider a story where a spell goes wrong and ages Baby Chris and Baby Wyatt._

With that idea, I decided to put pen to paper and write a lighter episode that does just that, hence the title "Any Excuse to Bring Back Big Chris and Big Wyatt" 

ANY EXCUSE TO BRING BACK BIG CHRIS AND BIG WYATT

CHAPTER ONE

"Did you make the vanquishing potion?" Piper asked frantically as she placed Baby Wyatt and Baby Chris in the playpen in the corner of the Manor attic.

"The ingredients are listed here in The Book of Shadows," Phoebe said to Piper, "but it includes mature Burdock Root, not just normal Burdock Root, and we're all out."

"Damn, why does everything always have to include Burdock Root!" Piper exclaimed.

"Well, we've got to think of something fast, because if that Demon returns and we don't have a vanquishing potion….."

Before Paige could finish her sentence of doom, Phoebe cut in, "All we've got are these seeds, and unfortunately I don't think we can wait 22 years for the root to grow to full maturity." She said holding up a small white paper bag.

"Give me those." Paige said, an idea suddenly popping into her head.

"Why?" Phoebe asked as Paige snatched the paper bag filled with seeds from her hands.

"What do you have in mind Paige?" Piper also enquired.

"Simple. A spell to mature the seeds." She answered confidently

"How is that simple?" Phoebe asked. "We've never done that before, we don't even know if it will work."

"Of course it will work, I didn't spend nearly a year at Magic School for nothing." Paige said, trying to sound like she knew what she was doing. "Anyway, I don't see how we have a choice here, and what harm will it do to try."

"Not so sure of yourself now, hey?" Piper said to her, noticing her confidence waning.

"Well, has anyone else got a better idea?" Paige asked defiantly. After a lengthy silence, she continued, "thought so!"

"Give it your best shot!" Phoebe told her.

Paige put the seeds on the table and thought for a few seconds. Finally she said, "Hear our needs, dispel our fears, we ask that these, age 22 years."

The three sisters all looked expectantly at the packet of seeds on the table. Nothing happened.

"That should have worked!" Paige said looking on disappointedly.

"Don't worry, Paige, you did the best you could." Phoebe consoled.

"We'll just have to think of something else." Piper added.

"Wow!"

"Cool!"

Suddenly two deep voices could be heard coming from behind them, making them all jump and turn, prepared to face any foe confronting them.

"Oh my God!" Piper exclaimed as she was faced with two very grown up sons, still standing in the playpen. Both had broken bits of clothing falling off them.

"Chris?" Phoebe asked recognising one of the men immediately, not sure what was going on.

Chris looked at all of them with a big smile on his face. "This is so much better than how I was before, thank you all so much."

"Chris, what are you doing here? What's going on? Where are my boys?" Piper asked, her voice rising with every question.

"I don't really know how this happened, but it's really cool! And I can talk! You can understand me!" An elated Chris answered his Mother. He then looked at his arms, and down his now grown up body, and then realising he could, climbed out of the playpen. He looked back up at his Mother, very pleased with himself, "Can we stay this way, please, Mum, please." He begged.

"I think it was the spell Paige just said, Mum." Wyatt guessed as he, too stepped out of the playpen.

"Mum? You're Wyatt?" Piper asked, starting to panic.

"My spell?" Paige repeated thinking whether that was possible.

"You've aged my boys 22 years, Paige. Fix it, now!" Piper demanded.

"No, Mum, please," Chris begged her. "It's so much more fun being this size, can we just stay like this for a little while, please. Please."

"No, Chris! This was a mistake, and it needs to be fixed." Piper looked over to Paige. "And Aunt Paige is going to fix it right now, aren't you."

"Demons!" Chris suddenly shouted, pointing to a group of ugly looking creatures that had just shimmered in behind his Mother and Aunts.

The girls immediately turned to face them, Piper trying to blow them up unsuccessfully.

"Wyatt, orb your little brother out of here. Quickly!" Piper instructed.

Wyatt placed his hand on Chris's shoulder and the two grown up Halliwell Brothers disappeared in a cloud of orbs.

The two young men materialised seconds later in Piper's office at P3.

"We've got to go back, Wyatt and help Mum." Chris shouted to Wyatt over the noisy music emanating from outside the office door.

"No, Chris, we'll stay here until Mum comes and gets us." Wyatt replied.

"How will she know where we are?" Chris said as he moved toward the door, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"I only know how to orb to three places, so they'll work it out."

"I wish I knew how to orb." Chris said, turning to look at Wyatt.

"You'll learn, just like I did. It's easy really, all you have to do is think of wanting to go to a certain place, and then you just go there."

Chris closed his eyes and thought about going to the other side of the office and then before he realised what was happening he disappeared in a cloud of orbs and reappeared on the other side of the room.

"I did it!" He shouted to Wyatt excitedly.

"We must have stronger powers because we're older." Wyatt worked out.

"Hey, Wyatt?" Chris said to his brother, suddenly sounding very serious. "I need to go, you know." He said sounding slightly embarrassed.

Wyatt looked at Chris not understanding what he was talking about, and then when Chris grabbed his crotch, it clicked.

"What do I do? I don't have my diaper on?" Chris asked sounding desperate.

"You use the toilet, like I do now. It's through there." Wyatt said pointing to a door in the back of the room.

Chris disappeared through the door, while Wyatt started to investigate some clothes in a box in the corner.

"Handy," he said to himself as he sorted through the contents.

A few minutes later Chris re-appeared, "Now that was so much more civilised than using a diaper!" Chris exclaimed.

"Mum will be happy to hear that!" Wyatt said to him as he threw him some clothes. "I found these in that box over there – I think we'd better get dressed just in case we see anybody."

"I wonder what's going on outside?" Chris said after he had managed to get himself dressed in the jeans and buttoned up shirt Wyatt had given him. He walked over to the door of the office and was about to open it to take a peek at what was happening in the club, when it suddenly opened in on him.

"Oh, sorry." The young bar manager said, and then smiled when he recognised the younger Halliwell. "Chris, my man, I didn't know you were back in town, come out and have a drink with your old friend Dennis."

"Dennis? Do I know you?" Chris asked.

Dennis looked at him quizzically for a moment, and then thinking he was joking, laughed as he put his arm around Chris's shoulder and moved him outside. Chris looked back at Wyatt to make sure he was following them.

"I'm sorry, how rude of me. Hi, I'm Dennis." Dennis said extending a hand for Wyatt to shake.

Wyatt returned the handshake saying, "I'm Wyatt. We don't want to be any trouble."

"You're no trouble, Chris is an old friend. Come and sit at the bar and I'll get you both a drink."

The two men followed Dennis, weaving their way through the young crowd dancing to the music being played by a band up on stage.

After taking their seats at the bar, Chris turned to Wyatt. "This is amazing, have you ever seen this place like this? I've only seen it when nobody's been here."

Wyatt was also fascinated by his surroundings. "No, I don't remember seeing it like this either. Everyone seems to be having a lot of fun, they don't seem to be too worried about Demons."

"There you go, two beers, on the house." Dennis said as he placed two ice-cold bottles of beer in front of the two curious Halliwell Brothers.

"Thanks." Chris said as he cautiously picked up the bottle and smelt the contents.

Wyatt was a bit more adventurous and took a drink of the cold liquid.

"What's it like?" Chris asked.

"Bitter." Wyatt said pulling a face. "But not too bad," he said as he took another drink.

Chris took a drink, and immediately his face contorted. He looked around desperately hoping to find somewhere to spit the foul tasting liquid out from his mouth, but realising there wasn't anywhere, he held his nose and forced himself to swallow it.

"That was gross!" He said to Wyatt. "I don't know how you can drink that stuff!"

Dennis noticed Chris's reaction to the beer and enquired whether anything was wrong.

"I just don't feel like beer tonight. Do you have anything with orange juice in it?"

"How about a Vodka and orange?" Dennis suggested.

"Sounds fine." Chris told him.

As Dennis was making Chris's drink he asked, "So, Piper named both her sons after you guys, you must be pretty special to her."

"Yes we are." Wyatt answered, not really knowing what else to say.

Dennis placed Chris's drink in front of him, and then was called away by one of the bar staff.

Chris cautiously took a drink, and was very relieved to taste orange juice. He took a couple of big gulps, not realising how thirsty he was. "So do you know who this other Chris guy is that Dennis thinks is me?" He asked his brother.

"I think it was a guy who used to be around our house before you were born. He got hurt trying to save me from this bad man called Gideon. I haven't seen him since."

"And he looked like me?"

Wyatt looked Chris up and down. "Yes, he did. I hadn't realised until you said it."

Chris finished his drink as a young blonde woman came up behind him. "Excuse me, my friend and I," she said pointing to her a very good-looking dark haired woman sitting at a table not far away, "were wondering if you both would like to dance."

"Sure." Chris answered before Wyatt could say anything.

"Chris, maybe we should just stay here and wait." Wyatt cautioned.

"Oh Wyatt, come on, we don't know how long we're going to be like this, let's just have a bit of fun." Chris reasoned.

Wyatt considered what Chris had just said, and nodded his head in agreement.

"Great." She said as she led the two brothers to the dance floor, meeting her friend on the way.

Chris and Wyatt enjoyed dancing with the girls for a while, only pausing to have a couple more drinks. Then, suddenly, while dancing, Chris grabbed his head.

Wyatt noticed immediately. "What's wrong?" He asked his brother, concerned.

"I'm just feeling a little dizzy." He said his words slurring. "Wow, is it hot in here?" Chris added, trying to fan himself with his hand.

"I'm feeling a little strange, too, I think we'll go back to Mum's office and sit down for a while."

Wyatt helped Chris to lie down on the couch in the office, but didn't realise the girls had followed him in there. He turned to close the door and walked straight into Amy, the dark haired girl he'd been dancing with.

"This is much better, much more private," Amy said as she put her arms around Wyatt's neck.

Wyatt didn't want to hurt the girl, and tried to take her arms away from his neck. But before he managed that, Amy had started to push him towards the desk in the back of the room, and planted a passionate kiss square on his lips. Wyatt started to push her away, but with the alcohol clouding his judgement, and realising he was enjoying the experience, he started to kiss her back.

Chris, who was lying on the couch trying to steady the room, also didn't know what hit him, when the girl he had been dancing with, Kim, jumped on top of him and started kissing him too. "Wyatt?" He called to his brother when he was able to draw a breath. When Wyatt didn't answer him, he looked around as Kim started to kiss his neck, and noticed Wyatt was busy with Amy on top of the desk. "Wyatt, do you think…." Chris started to ask, but was cut off when Kim's lips found his again. Chris realised he didn't have the strength to fight this young woman, and deciding that what he was experiencing was not at all unpleasant, and seeing his brother doing the same, he willingly gave in to his adult urges.

Oh! My! God! What the hell do you think you're doing!" A very familiar voice shouted from the door to the office.

"Mum!" Both Halliwell boys said at once as they looked up to see an incredibly shocked Piper and Leo standing looking at them, their mouths open in astonishment.

Immediately, the boys pushed their respective partners away, Chris trying to do up his shirt, Wyatt trying to find his.

We were ummm, we were just…." Chris tried to explain, but he was having difficulty thinking clearly.

Piper moved over to the two women who had just been all over her boys. "Sorry, you picked the wrong guys tonight. Off you go. Quickly." She said sternly.

"I think they're big enough to make up their own minds!" Amy said defiantly to Piper.

"I'm warning you lady, I'm not in the mood to argue!" Piper shouted at her.

"You really don't want to see her dark side." Leo warned Amy, who decided to take Leo's advice and follow Kim out the door.

"We've been looking everywhere for you two." Piper started to tell them.

"We've been worried, sick." Leo continued. "We thought that demon might have followed you. Wyatt didn't you hear us calling you?"

"No, Dad, I didn't hear anything." Wyatt replied honestly as he finally found his t-shirt and put it back on.

"I think they've been a bit busy!" Piper exclaimed to Leo.

"They attacked us!" Wyatt said, trying to defend their actions.

"It didn't look like you were attempting to fight them off!" Piper challenged him.

Leo remained silent, with a slight smile on his face, knowing he was witnessing a glimpse of the future.

"It was Wyatt's idea to stay here." Chris said as he attempted to stand, and then feeling dizzy started to fall back toward the couch again.

"Thanks for the support Chris!" Wyatt cursed him.

"Are you okay?" Piper asked, concerned as she moved next to Chris.

"No, I'm feeling really dizzy, and a little sick." Chris replied.

"I thought this was the safest place to stay until you came to get us." Wyatt justified.

"You were right Wyatt, this was a good place to come." Leo agreed, trying to give his older, and very embarrassed son, a little support.

As Piper sat next to her younger son, she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Have you been drinking?" She asked incredulously.

"Wyatt had beer, but I just had juice." He told her honestly. "Dennis gave it to us – he thought I was the other Chris."

"The one that saved my life before Chris was born." Wyatt explained.

"You remember him?" Piper asked surprised.

"Vaguely. Why does this Chris look like he did?" Wyatt asked.

Piper looked at Leo, not really knowing what to say.

"That's a long story," Leo said as he picked up a glass on a side table near the couch and smelt the contents. "Vodka." He said to Piper.

"That explains a lot." She said.

"We'd better get you guys home." Leo said as he walked over to Wyatt. "Do you think you could orb us all home?"

"I can orb myself home, Wyatt taught me how." Chris said, and before Piper or Leo had a chance to stop him, Chris closed his eyes, concentrated, and then disappeared.

"Quickly, Wyatt, orb us home, now." Piper said as she ran to Wyatt and held his hand.

Piper, Leo and Wyatt all appeared seconds later in the attic of the Manor. Phoebe and Paige were both still working on a vanquishing potion when they arrived.

"Thank God, you found them." Phoebe said, and then noticed someone was missing. "Where's Chris?"

"He's not here?" Piper asked frantically.

"Can you sense where he is, Wyatt?" Leo asked his oldest son.

Wyatt closed his eyes and concentrated, and then opened his eyes and said, "My head feels really cloudy, it's very hard to concentrate."

"It must be the alcohol." Leo explained. "It dulls the senses."

"Alcohol, what alcohol?" Phoebe asked.

"They were at P3." Piper answered, and then turned to her younger sister, "Paige, can you sense Chris?" She asked.

"Were they drinking?" Paige asked, surprised.

"We'll explain after we find Chris, please Paige can you sense him. He may look twenty two, but he's really only eight months old." Piper pleaded with her.

Immediately she closed her eyes and concentrated. "I think he's at Magic School."

"Why would he be at Magic School?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't care, I just want him back. Paige can you orb me there?" Piper asked.

"Sure." Paige replied.

"Leo, can you put Wyatt to bed, we'll change them back in the morning. I don't want them to be children again, until they're both sober."

"No problem." He said as he watched Piper disappear with Paige in a cloud of orbs.

Piper and Paige arrived at Magic School to find Chris huddled on the floor near the closed nursery.

"Chris, are you okay, honey?" Piper asked concerned.

"Mum!" Chris shouted relieved as he ran to his Mother and gave her a loving hug. "Why didn't you orb here like you said you were going to?"

"We didn't say to come here, we said to go home." Piper said to Chris.

"This is home." Chris answered her, not understanding what she was talking about.

"Chris, this isn't home, sweetie, this is Magic School." Piper calmly explained.

"But Magic School is home, isn't it?" Chris asked, now completely confused.

"No, Chris, the Manor is home, where we were earlier tonight. Why did you think this was home?" She asked.

"This is the place where I spend most of my time. Most of my memories are here, so I thought this was home. I thought the other place was like a holiday." He explained.

"Oh, Chris." Piper said as he held her younger son close to her, giving him a big comforting hug. "Come on, let's get you to your real home, and get you to bed, I'll explain all this to you in the morning. You must be really tired."

Chris just nodded, as Paige held on to Piper and Chris's hands and then orbed them both back to the Manor.


	2. Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

Leo, Phoebe and Wyatt were all sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast as Chris very slowly entered the room. Piper was at the kitchen bench preparing some pancakes when she looked up to see a very sorry for himself Chris move slowly toward the table.

"Hello, sleepyhead!" Piper said a little too cheerfully.

Chris stopped moving and grabbed his head. "Does everyone have to be so loud!" he cursed.

"Aren't you feeling well this morning, Chris?" Leo asked him, already knowing the answer.

Chris started to move again, slowly sitting down on a vacant chair at the table. "My head is hurting so much, and my mouth feels…" He paused searching for the right word.

"Furry?" Phoebe suggested.

"Yes, that's right! How is that even possible?" He asked as he closed his eyes and rested his head carefully on his hands. "Yesterday I only had four teeth, now I've got a mouth full of them, and my whole mouth feels furry. And I've got hair growing everywhere.." Chris added, his voice trailing off.

"You have a hangover Chris, and I would heal you if I could buddy, but I'm sorry I can't because I'm mortal now." Leo said to him, ignoring the hair comment.

"I don't care what it's called, I just want it to go away. It took ages for the room to stop spinning last night, and now this. How do you grown-ups live like this?" Chris said peering out of only one eye, but managing to keep his head perfectly still.

"Oh, I remember my first hangover," Phoebe said, showing little sympathy. "I swore I would never drink again!"

"I only had orange juice!" Chris said as he opened his eyes and moved his head to look at Phoebe, regretting the movement as soon as he did it. Then he had a thought, "Wyatt can heal me. Mum, please make Wyatt heal me, please." Chris begged her as he gently positioned his head back on his hands.

"I don't even know if he can." Piper answered him before Wyatt had a chance to say anything. She moved over to feel Chris's forehead. "This is a good lesson for you, Chris. Remember this feeling the next time you think about drinking alcohol."

"Mum, I only had juice! How many times do I have to tell you that! And besides it will be at least fifteen years before I get the chance to try it again, unless you're planning to give it to me in my bottle."

"He's got a point Piper, we've got to remember he's really only eight months old." Phoebe said to her.

"Well, then, this is a good lesson for Chris to learn not to take drinks from strangers." Piper said, quickly amending her lesson for the day.

"The juice you drank had alcohol called Vodka mixed with it, and that's why you're feeling like this." Leo told him, switching into Daddy mode.

"You know, I have a bottle from strangers at Magic School all the time, and no one has ever put Vodka in it, but okay, fine, I promise I'll never drink anything ever again, just make it stop." Chris pleaded.

"Ahh, Magic School, we've got to talk about Magic School." Piper said, suddenly remembering what had happened the night before.

"It okay, Mum, I understand now. It must be my adult brain kicking in, but I see that this is our home, not Magic School." Chris explained, managing to look at his Mother.

"You thought Magic School was our home?" Wyatt asked him, surprised.

"Well, we do spend a lot of time there." Chris justified.

"It's for your own safety, Chris. Your Mother and I are always busy fighting Demons, and we know that you're safe at Magic School." Leo explained.

"Plus you get to play with other magical children," Phoebe added, trying to contribute to the conversation.

"I don't play much, lying on my back all day!" Chris said to Phoebe, "but as I said before, I understand now."

"Poor Chris," Piper said sympathetically while stroking his hair. "This has been a big change for you, but don't worry, Paige is at Magic School working on a reversal spell right now."

"Poor Chris," Wyatt mocked.

"Wyatt, don't be like that. You should be looking out for your brother more, making sure he's okay." Piper chastised him.

Chris looked over at Wyatt, enjoying the sudden sympathy from his Mother, and then he had a thought, "Why is Wyatt feeling all right, he was drinking beer?" Chris asked.

Nobody had really thought about it until Chris mentioned it, and they all turned to look at Wyatt for an answer.

"Because I healed myself when I woke up this morning." Wyatt said simply.

"You healed yourself, and you've just let your brother suffer like this!" Piper asked him, suddenly getting an angry tone in her voice.

"Look, just forget it Wyatt!" Chris said, annoyed, as he rose from the table. "I'm sick of you always picking on me. You orb me all around the place, you take my toys and blankets away from me, your powers are so much stronger than mine, it's just not fair!" Chris felt like throwing a full on tantrum, but honestly didn't have the energy, so he just walked into the Living Room toward the couch to get away, from not only his family, but also the nauseating smell of food.

"Chris, it's okay honey, Wyatt will heal you, come here." Piper said, now feeling very guilty, as she, Leo, Phoebe and Wyatt all got up to follow Chris.

"Why don't I have any powers yet? You don't see what he does to me when you're not looking!" Chris whined as he continued toward the couch.

"Come on Chris, I was only playing with you, come here and I'll heal you." Wyatt told him, trying to make amends.

"Just leave me alone!" Chris shouted as he turned and swung his arm around in his family's direction, and then turned back, grabbing his throbbing head in the process. "Ohh, that hurt!" he cursed to himself as he carefully sat down on the couch. He hadn't noticed that all his family had gone flying backwards when he motioned his arm at them. One by one they all picked themselves up off the floor, while Chris still sat on the couch with his eyes closed, unaware of what he had just done.

After Piper, Leo, Phoebe and Wyatt had all managed to get back on their feet, Piper quietly and cautiously called, "Chris?"

Chris looked up, putting his hand up again, but couldn't quite believe it when he saw his entire family drop to the floor before he could say anything.

"What are you doing?" He asked, taken back.

Piper looked up first, "Didn't you see what you just did to us?"

"No…" Chris answered, bewildered.

"You just threw us all across the room, Chris. You must have your telekinetic powers." Leo told him.

"I did! I do!" Chris shouted excitedly, temporarily forgetting about his hangover. He lifted up his hand to look at it, and watched his family jump behind him as he did so. Seeing them afraid of him made him laugh.

"Just put your hands down for a minute, please," Piper asked him, "And Wyatt will come over and heal you."

"You'd better watch out Wyatt, or I'll throw you across the room," Chris said, deliberately taunting him.

"And I'll orb you into the middle of the ocean!" Wyatt shot back.

"And I'll throw you out the window," Chris returned.

"Chris! Wyatt! Stop it now!" Piper yelled at them. The boys immediately obeyed their shrieking Mother. "Wyatt, please heal your brother, and Phoebe can you phone Paige and find out what's keeping her. These boys need to get back to their smaller and more quiet size, now!"

"But…" Chris started to protest to his Mother. Piper turned and lifted her index finger and gave him a look that made him immediately stop what he was about to say.

In the meantime Wyatt had moved next to Chris and lifted his hands up to his head. On cue, they started to glow, and Chris let out a huge sigh of relief as his throbbing headache started to subside and then eventually disappeared.

"Can you teach me to do that?" Chris asked his older brother.

"I'm not sure. Dad taught me, but he's mortal now, so I don't know if you'll ever learn how to heal." Wyatt replied.

"That'd be right." Chris grumbled under his breath, hoping his Mother hadn't heard him.

"Just got on to Paige," Phoebe said as she walked back into the room, "She's still at Magic School trying to work out a reversal spell, she said she shouldn't be too much longer."

"How about we finish breakfast?" Leo said, "I'm sure Chris is…."

Before he could finish his sentence, Leo was hit from behind by an energy ball, and fell to the ground unconscious.

"Leo!" Piper screamed, and straight away motioned to blow up the demon that had attacked Leo, she could now see standing behind him. The demon was pushed back, but not vanquished, and then he shimmered out. Piper turned to see Phoebe grabbed from behind by another demon, but before she could do anything they both shimmered out. While her attention was focused on Phoebe she hadn't noticed a demon materialise behind her.

"Mum!" Both Wyatt and Chris called out.

Piper turned to attack, but before she had a chance to fight, Wyatt blinked and the demon disappeared in a fiery vanquish. Unfortunately her relief turned to despair as three more demons appeared. Chris used his newly found telekinetic powers and motioned towards the demons, sending them all back into the wall behind, vanquishing them. He took a moment to enjoy his first vanquish, and admire his new power, shouting, "Cool!" before running over to his Mother to check she was all right. They both looked over to Wyatt and saw the demon that attacked Leo appear again behind him.

"Wyatt!" Piper called to warn him about the demon, at the same time raising her hands to attack.

Wyatt turned, and saw an energy ball coming in his direction. As fast as his reflexes would take him, he dodged, but he only managed to divert the energy ball from his chest into his shoulder. Overcome by the force of the attack, Wyatt was pushed backward. He managed to see his Mother vanquish his attacker before hitting the floor heavily. He lay there stunned looking up at Chris and Piper, who had been so distracted by Wyatt's dilemma that they hadn't noticed a demon shimmer in behind them. Wyatt recognised this demon as the same one who had attacked the night before in the attic. Before Wyatt could gather his wits about him, the demon threw something at the floor near his Mum and Brother. He watched helplessly as smoke started to rise around them, and before they had a chance to realise what was happening, they both collapsed to the floor, unconscious. The demon then put his hands on both of them and they all shimmered out.

Wyatt, using all his remaining strength, moved over to his badly injured Father who was still lying in the exact position he had landed in. He knew they couldn't stay in the Manor, as it was too dangerous, and he desperately needed help, so he closed his eyes, trying to concentrate through the burning pain in his shoulder and head, and orbed them both to Magic School.


	3. Chapter Three

_Thank you to everyone for all your nice comments about this story. There have been so many positive comments that I felt very nervous about posting anymore of this story, knowing that it could not possibly live up to the first two chapters. I've ploughed ahead anyway, and hope you continue to enjoy it.  
_

CHAPTER THREE

Piper slowly opened her eyes. Cautiously, she looked around the dimly lit cave from where she was lying in the dirt. Her eyesight was blurry, so she blinked a few times to try to see more clearly. One by one her senses started to return, and then she realised she could hear Phoebe calling her. All of a sudden the memories of what had happened came flooding back, and she shot up to a sitting position.

"Phoebe?" She called out, not quite sure what direction her sister's voice was coming from.

"I'm here Piper. Are you okay?" Phoebe asked, obviously concerned.

Piper swung around to look behind her and saw Phoebe standing not far away. "What happened? Where are we?" Piper asked as she tried to stand up.

"Be careful," Phoebe warned, "We're in some kind of a crystal cage. I found out the hard way when I touched the edge of it, and it certainly packs a punch!"

Piper looked around and noticed the crystals placed around her on the ground. Then she looked over to Phoebe and noticed the same crystals around her. "I don't remember how I got here." Piper said to Phoebe as she rubbed her forehead.

"You and Chris were unconscious when you arrived with that demon, Drask, we've been trying to vanquish."

"Chris? Chris is here too? Where is he?" Piper asked as she immediately started looking around for her younger son.

"He's over there." Phoebe said, indicating to the younger Halliwell who had been tied by his hands to two wooden stakes that were keeping him in a standing position, despite him still being unconscious.

"Oh God! Chris! Chris!" Piper called, desperately hoping her baby was all right.

Chris started to groan and move his head slightly as Piper called him.

"He obviously knows your voice," Phoebe commented when she saw Chris's response.

"What are those things tied to his hands?" Piper asked Phoebe, only just noticing the clear rectangular blocks that had been bound tightly around Chris's hands.

"I don't know," Phoebe answered, also just noticing them. "They look similar to these crystals."

"Mum?" Chris called weakly as he lifted his head to look around the cave.

"I'm here sweetie, are you okay?" She asked.

Chris looked at his hands and wrists tied securely to the wooden stakes coming from the ground. His hands and wrists were numb, but his arms and shoulders were aching terribly, and his throbbing headache was back again. "Depends what you mean by okay?" Chris called back. Then he looked around at his surroundings, never having seen anywhere like this before. "Where are we?" He asked.

"I was hoping it would be a while before you saw this place, but this is the Underworld Chris. This is where demons live. Welcome to Mummy's day job."

Chris tried with all his strength to move his wrists to loosen the ropes that tied them, but to no avail. "You were right," he called to his Mother.

"About what?" Piper asked.

"I much prefer going to Magic School than coming to work with you." Chris told her.

Piper allowed herself a small smile at Chris's attempt at a joke. She knew he must be terrified.

"How did we get here?" Chris asked. "Do you know if Dad and Wyatt are okay?"

"I don't know, Chris." Piper answered honestly. "Can you orb?" She asked, suddenly hopeful that they may have a means of escape.

Before Chris could answer his Mother, Piper heard a familiar voice talking as he entered the cave.

"Hello and welcome. Nice to see you awake, Piper, and no, nobody can orb in this cave, it, unfortunately for you, is protected." Zankou said as he walked towards them, the other demon, Drask following a few paces behind.

"What do you want?" Piper asked, immediately getting to the point.

"What no small talk?" Zankou asked as he looked at both Phoebe and Piper. He then laughed to himself before continuing. "Very well, we'll get straight down to business. What I want is simple. I want you to summon your other sister, Paige, and then I can be rid of the Power of Three for good."

"You're crazy!" Phoebe said to him.

"There's no way we're going to do that!" Piper said confidently.

"Well, that's your choice, of course, but just so you know, Drask here will take great pleasure in hurting that young man over there until you do."

Piper looked over to Chris, terrified by what she had just been told. "No, you can't," she said quietly, and then continued with a more threatening tone to her voice. "Leave him out of this. This is between you and us, Zankou, you don't need to start using babies to get what you want, do you?"

"First of all, I'm a demon, Piper, I will use any means whatsoever to get what I want. And second of all, even though he is you son, he's hardly a baby."

"But you don't understand, he is a baby, he's only eight months old. Paige accidentally cast a spell that aged him." Piper explained. "Even you wouldn't hurt an eight month old baby, Zankou." She said, hopefully.

Zankou looked back at Chris, who had been listening silently to the conversation. Chris managed to give him a smile, hoping his Mother had been able to convince Zankou not to hurt him. Zankou then looked back to Piper and said, "If what you say is true, then you do have a point. Being the most superior demon on the planet, I do unfortunately possess a conscience that would make it hard, although not impossible, for me to hurt a baby."

Piper let out a sigh of relief that turned out to be premature when Zankou continued. "Lucky then that Drask is here, because he has no such moral problems." Zankou started to walk away, but turned and whispered to Piper, "Always handy to keep a lower level demon around the house, don't you think?" Then he walked out, calling back to Drask. "Let me know when the other witch is here."

"Zankou!" Piper called out to him. But Zankou didn't even bother turning around as he left the cave.

Drask immediately walked over to Chris, who looked at him fearfully.

"Mum?" Chris called desperately.

"No, Drask, wait!" Piper told him.

Drask turned to look at Piper. "Have you reconsidered, witch?"

Piper didn't have an answer. All she knew was she didn't want to see Chris be hurt for any reason.

"Piper, we can't summon Paige." Phoebe said quietly to her. "They will kill us and Chris as soon as she gets here."

"I can't just stand here and watch him hurt Chris, Phoebe." Piper said sounding very distressed.

"I know how you feel, Piper, but we may have to." Phoebe said solemnly.

Piper was just about to respond to Phoebe when the sound of Chris screaming stopped her. Both she and Phoebe turned to see Chris convulsing in pain as Drask was using another crystal to touch the one already tied to Chris's hands.

"Chris!" Piper screamed helplessly.

Drask moved the crystal away and Chris's body immediately collapsed. Piper could see him breathing heavily, obviously catching his breath after the unexpected agony he'd just experienced.

Drask then walked over to Piper and Phoebe. "That was just a taste of what's to come. You can save your son a lot of pain if you will just summon your sister, now."

Before Piper or Phoebe could answer, Chris called out in between deep breaths, "Don't do it Mum. I don't want them to kill you. I need you."

Piper's heart melted. And then in a desperate attempt to escape her confinement, she used her hands to blast the forcefield around her, but only succeeded in throwing herself backwards against the other side of the forcefield and then falling heavily to the ground.

Drask didn't waste any time as he moved back over to Chris who watched him come, dreading what he knew was about to happen again, but trying very hard to be brave.

Piper was still trying to pick herself up off the ground when she heard Chris's screams of agony again fill the small cave they were being held captive in. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked on helplessly, knowing that Phoebe was right, and the sure way to sign their death certificates was to summon Paige to join them. Her thoughts wandered to Leo and Wyatt, and wondered whether they were even still alive. And as far as she knew Paige was still at Magic School completely oblivious to what had happened. Her feelings of dread deepened when, try as she might, she could not think of a way out of their current dire dilemma.

* * *

"Wyatt! Wyatt! Wake up, you've got to tell me what happened." Paige called frantically. 

Wyatt slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her, trying to work out what she was talking about. Immediately he was overcome by the pain in his shoulder.

"Oww," he cried as he grabbed his shoulder. It took him a few seconds to realise he was still in his adult body.

"Wyatt, you have to heal your Dad, he's hurt really badly and there's not much time." Paige told him, trying not to alarm him too much.

Wyatt managed to sit up slightly and could see his Father, still unconscious, lying next to him. He straightaway put his hand over to cover his Father's deep wound on his back, grimacing in pain as he did. He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to control his own pain and find the energy to heal his dying Father before it was too late.

Paige watched in silence, knowing how important it was for Wyatt to concentrate. He hadn't quite healed Leo completely when he collapsed back on the floor, exhausted.

"Wyatt, are you okay?" Paige asked, concerned.

"It's too much!" Was all he could say.

Leo's eyes fluttered as the healing started to take effect. He opened his eyes and looked up at Paige who diverted her attention from Wyatt to Leo when noticing him becoming conscious.

"What happened?" Leo asked her.

"I was hoping you could tell me," she replied. "Wyatt orbed you here to Magic School. You've both been hit by energy balls. Wyatt tried to heal you, but I think he's too weak to finish the job."

Leo looked over and saw Wyatt still collapsed on the ground next to him. "Where are Piper, Chris and Phoebe?" Leo asked, noticing that they were nowhere in sight.

"I don't know." Paige answered.

"They've been taken by the demons." Wyatt answered as he tried to sit up again.

"I think I can finish healing you now, Dad."

"No, Wyatt, I'm fine. The important thing is to heal yourself because you will have to go with your Aunt Paige to find our family."

"But.." Wyatt started to say.

"No buts, Wyatt, do it now." Leo demanded in his authoritative Daddy voice.

Wyatt put his hand over his shoulder and concentrated. Seconds later his wound disappeared and then he lay back down, exhausted once again.

"The healing is taking a lot out of you, that's why you've got to save your strength." Leo told him.

"I don't suppose you could describe the demon?" Paige asked.

"It was the same demon who attacked you the night before in the attic." Wyatt answered.

"Drask!" Paige cursed. "Good work, Wyatt. We've got something we can use to scry for him." Paige said as she helped both men to their feet.

"But you don't have a vanquishing potion." Leo reminded her.

"I'll improvise when we get there." Paige answered. "Come on, I'll orb us all back to the Manor to get the scrying crystal and then Wyatt and I will go and kick some serious demon butt!"


	4. Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

Chris could see his Mother getting more and more upset each time he was put through the excruciating pain that the demon was causing. What she didn't know, was that every time the demon touched the crystal strapped to his hands, the rope that held his right hand to the wooden stake would loosen a little bit more. Chris just hoped that he could somehow stay conscious to benefit from his hand being freed.

"I can't watch this anymore," Piper said to Phoebe, sounding completely distraught.

"I know," Phoebe agreed. "Maybe we should summon Paige and then take our chances. We've always managed to find a way out before."

Piper didn't hesitate as she called, "Drask, enough! We'll do what you want, just please leave him alone."

Chris was both relieved and scared at hearing his Mother's words. He definitely didn't want to go through any more pain, but he didn't want to watch his Mother die either. When Drask moved over to Piper and Phoebe to hear what they had to say, Chris took the opportunity to move his right hand around, desperately trying to free it from the loosening rope.

"Well it's about time! Although it has been fun." Drask said, barely getting his last word out before he was thrown across the cave with great force, hitting the opposite wall and falling unconscious to the ground.

Phoebe and Piper looked up surprised to see Chris had managed to free one of his wrists and that he had been the one to telekinetically throw Drask.

Still with one hand tied, and now the other one freed, Chris called to his Mother, "Watch out, Mum, I'll try to move the crystals with my powers."

Before Piper could say anything, Chris telekinetically motioned with his free hand and one of the crystals that had been carefully placed around her, rolled across the ground, breaking the forcefield immediately.

"Well done Chris!" Piper called as she ran toward him, kicking one of the crystals surrounding Phoebe along the way. When she got to Chris she reached up to give him a big comforting hug. Chris, forgetting how big he was, collapsed into her welcoming arms, as Piper struggled to support his weight. "Chris, honey, you're crushing Mummy." Piper said to him as Phoebe seeing her dilemma helped her support his weight. Chris immediately tried to stand up, but was finding it difficult. "Sweetie, you can barely stand!" She said to him sympathetically, "Come on let's get you out of here. You've been so brave."

As Phoebe tried to untie Chris's other hand while Piper was keeping him upright, they heard a very welcome voice call them, "Piper! Phoebe!" Paige called as she entered the cave with Wyatt. "Thank God you're all okay." Paige said relieved.

"We may not be for long." Phoebe said indicating to Drask, now starting to wake up on the other side of the cave.

"Wyatt, take your Brother out of here, while we take care of the nasty Demon." Piper said just as Phoebe managed to finally release Chris's other wrist. "And help him, he can barely stand."

Wyatt nodded as he put Chris's arm around his shoulder and helped him to walk outside the cave. Once outside they both leaned up against the wall, waiting for their Mother and Aunts as instructed.

"What happened to you, Chris? You don't look so good." Wyatt enquired, sounding quite concerned.

"That demon kept hurting me, hoping that Mum would summon Aunt Paige, and let me tell you the pain was way worse than that hangover thing I had this morning." Chris told him.

"Wow! That was pretty bad." Wyatt commented, remembering how he'd felt that morning when he woke up. "It couldn't have been as bad as the energy ball that hit me, though. That was the worst pain I've ever felt."

"Is Dad okay?" Chris asked, suddenly remembering his Father also being injured.

"Yes, he should be fine, I healed him. Although I couldn't heal him completely because I was too badly hurt."

"Wyatt, some more demons!" Chris said to him anxiously as he saw a group of demons approaching them.

"I see them," Wyatt replied as he looked around trying to work out what to do. Quickly, seeing no other option, Wyatt put his hand around Chris's shoulder and now being free of the cave, was able to orb out.

* * *

Piper, Phoebe and Paige approached Drask who was trying to stand up. "What are we going to do?" Phoebe asked, "We still don't have a vanquishing potion."

"I have the strongest potion I could make, and I've written this Power of Three spell. I'm hoping the combination of the two will be enough." Paige told her sisters.

Paige threw the potion at the feet of the surprised Demon, who was knocked back, but not vanquished. Immediately they started reciting the spell Paige had written, and the relief shown by Drask at not being vanquished was short-lived as he started to be engulfed by flames, and then completely disappeared.

"Finally!" Piper said, relieved. "Now, let's get Wyatt and Chris and go home."

They all turned to leave the cave, but were confronted by a group of demons at the entrance.

"I really don't have time for this!" Piper said as she used her explosive powers to vanquish all of them. "Nobody's going to come between me and my boys." She yelled as she ran through the dusty remains of the vanquished demons to the outside of the cave.

Paige and Phoebe followed, but all were dismayed when Wyatt and Chris were nowhere in sight. "Wyatt! Chris!" Piper called, hoping they hadn't wandered off too far. But there was no reply.

"I don't think shouting down here is a good idea," Phoebe cautioned her, "Zankou might not be far away."

"Maybe they orbed back home." Paige suggested.

"Maybe." Piper said, not sounding convinced. But she did not have the luxury to look around any longer as she all of a sudden saw Zankou appear in the distance.

"Piper, we've got to go." Phoebe called to her, also seeing Zankou approaching.

"I know." Piper said as she continued to look around, hoping her boys would magically appear. Finally realising she had no choice, she said, "Okay, Paige, orb us home."

A few seconds later they all materialised back at the Manor, where Leo, who was resting on the couch, was anxiously waiting for them. "Thank god you're okay!" Leo exclaimed as he slowly tried to get up.

"And you too!" Piper exclaimed as she ran to hug him.

"Where are the boys?" Leo asked

That was the exact question Piper was dreading. "They're not here?" She asked as she frantically looked around.

"I don't think so." Leo said, not entirely sure.

"I'll check Magic School." Paige said as she orbed out.

"I'll check upstairs." Phoebe said as she ran upstairs calling, "Wyatt, Chris, are you up here?"

It only took about ten minutes for everyone to realise that Wyatt and Chris were nowhere to be found.

"When Gideon took Wyatt to the Underworld, Wyatt wasn't strong enough to orb out. That's probably what's happened again this time. He's orbed away from the demons that were coming after you, but he wasn't strong enough to come up here, so has ended up in another part of the Underworld." Leo surmised, sounding very worried.

Piper was pacing up and down, now almost hysterical. "I don't believe it, my babies are lost in the Underworld! What kind of a Mother am I to leave them down there alone? We've got to go back, now, and find them."

"The Underworld is a big place, Piper, how will we know where to start looking?" Paige asked her.

"It's not like they're lost in a shopping centre or an amusement park, where most normal children get lost. I have to lose them in the most dangerous place in existence!" Piper ranted, now completely hysterical.

"They're both powerful witches, Piper, I'm sure they're okay." Phoebe said, trying to be positive.

"But for how long? I refuse to sit here and do nothing. Come on Phoebe, Paige is going to orb us back down there, and we're not coming back until we find them." Piper demanded, sounding more determined than ever.

"I'll wait here in case they find a way out. Keep checking back with me, Paige." Leo told them as he walked over to Piper and gave her a supportive and loving hug. "Don't worry, we'll find them."

Piper nodded, enjoying the security of his arms for a few seconds before returning to her sisters and orbing out.


	5. Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

Wyatt and Chris materialised in another part of the Underworld.

"This looks almost the same as the last place you orbed us to," Chris said looking around. "How many dark, dank caves can there be down here?"

"I don't know. At least we haven't come across any more demons, yet."

"We're lost aren't we?" Chris asked his brother as he carefully sat his tired adult body on the damp ground.

"I'm trying my best, Chris. I'm just not strong enough to take us back home." Wyatt said dejectedly. "What do you suggest I do?"

"You're asking me?" Chris asked incredulously. "Up until last night my solution to every problem was to lie on my back, wave my arms and legs around frantically and scream my lungs out!"

"Which was very annoying, by the way," Wyatt told him.

"Well, it got results." Chris defended. "Any problem I had was usually fixed pretty quickly by doing that."

"Well, I don't think it will help this time, but you're welcome to try." Wyatt said as he started to walk down the narrow, rocky tunnel, hoping to find some way out.

"Very funny!" Chris said as he leant against the damp wall behind him and took a few minutes to close his eyes. He was completely exhausted, as well as starving hungry and very thirsty. His whole body ached and he wished that Wyatt was strong enough to heal him. Even though he knew Wyatt was joking, he found himself fighting the overwhelming urge to throw himself on the ground and scream at the top of his voice.

Suddenly his thoughts we interrupted by an energy ball hitting the wall next to him. Chris opened his eyes and was confronted by a group of particularly ugly looking demons approaching. It took all his strength, but using one arm movement as he stood up dodging another energy ball, he was able to use his telekinetic powers to throw the whole group against cave wall behind them.

Wyatt didn't waste any time. Upon hearing the commotion, he came running back, and in a flying leap to push Chris out of the way of another incoming energy ball, he also orbed them both out of there. A few seconds later, the two brothers rematerialised, landing heavily on the rocky ground of another part of the Underworld. They both rolled a couple of times before finally coming to a standstill.

"Are you okay, Chris?" Wyatt asked as he lifted his head to look around.

"No, Wyatt I'm not, I don't know how much longer I can do this. I'm tired and I'm hungry and I just want to go home." Chris whined as he slowly opened his eyes, hoping not to see another dark, dank cave. Chris gasped when all he saw when he opened his eyes was a demon two inches from his face. Chris didn't move or say anything, not knowing what to do as he stared the demon straight in the eyes.

Suddenly a shrill voice broke the silence, "Chris!" the demon yelled.

Chris jumped, startled by the sudden sound. He tried to ignore the incredibly bad breath coming from the demon, as he called out to his brother, trying not to sound as terrified as he felt.

Wyatt had already turned with the sudden noise and using his own telekinetic powers, pushed the demon away from Chris, who immediately moved back up to the protection of his brother.

"I wasn't going to hurt him, we're friends." The demon said directly to Wyatt.

Wyatt continued to stare at him without saying anything.

The demon looked back at Wyatt, obviously petrified by the dead eyed stare he was receiving from the powerful witch. He decided to move his attention to the younger Halliwell, "Chris, remember me? I'm Choz, I was helping you get information on demons down here about a year ago." The demon explained from his new position across the cave.

Chris thought for a moment. Obviously this demon believed he was the other Chris that Dennis also thought he was, so he decided to play along, realising that he didn't have the strength to fight another demon.

"Sure," Chris said unconvincingly.

"Nice to see you again. Where have you been lately?" Choz asked Chris.

"Here and there." Chris answered.

"Come and have a drink with me," Choz suggested.

"No! No drinks. Please NO drinks," Chris refused vehemently, remembering what happened the last time he accepted a drink from a stranger.

"Choz, this is my brother." Chris told him, realising he was staring at Wyatt.

"This is your brother!" Choz asked surprised, "I thought he was evil?"

"No, not Wyatt, he's not evil that must have been my other brother," Chris said, still trying to sound convincing, but not succeeding.

Choz looked at him suspiciously, "you seem different."

"He's injured," Wyatt explained. "We need to get home, can you take us out of the Underworld?"

"I don't go above very often. Why don't you just orb like you always do?" Choz asked, still seemingly suspicious.

"I just told you, he's injured. Now either you take us above, or I'll vanquish you right now." Wyatt insisted, starting to lose his patience.

"Okay, Okay, take it easy. I'll take you, for old times sake," Choz said as he put his hands on Wyatt and Chris's shoulders and shimmered out.

Seconds later the two boys and the demon materialised in a dark, dank alley.

"This doesn't look much different to the Underworld," Chris observed.

"Nice seeing you again, Chris," Choz said as he shimmered out.

"But…" before Chris could finish his sentence Choz had disappeared. "Where are we?" he asked to the vacant space where the demon had just been.

Wyatt looked around the alley, and could hear the traffic of the city street in the distance. "At least we're in the normal world now," he said as he started to walk towards the end of the alley.

"Yes, but how do we get home? Can you orb us?" Chris asked, as he followed a few paces behind.

"I don't know. I suppose I could try," Wyatt answered. He turned to move back to Chris, but was confronted with some strange men running towards him.

Before Wyatt could do anything, one of the men grabbed an unsuspecting Chris, and holding a gun to his head started yelling, "Get back or I'll shoot him."

Wyatt was pushed back as several policemen with guns drawn surrounded them, their weapons pointing towards the men holding Chris captive.

"Wyatt, what's happening?" Chris called to his brother. "What should I do?"

"You should shut up, or I'll shoot you," The man holding Chris yelled at him.

"You know him?" One of the police asked Wyatt as he led him away from the crime scene.

"Yes, he's my brother, please let me go back, I can help," Wyatt pleaded.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing you can do, we'll handle it. Just stay down here away from the danger."

Wyatt tried to follow the policeman back up the alley, but was stopped short.

"Please, do as I say, or I'll have you taken away. We'll do everything we can to help your brother, but you will not be helping if you get in our way, you understand."

Wyatt nodded. He looked around helplessly, not knowing what to do. He could simply orb into where Chris was, but he had been told not to orb in front of strangers. Also, the evil men who were holding Chris could easily shoot him before he materialised anyway. He started pacing in the alley, trying to work out what to do next.

Leo was also pacing in the Living Room of the Manor. The TV was on in the background, but he wasn't really watching it as Piper, Paige and Phoebe all orbed in.

Leo watched anxiously as they materialised, but his heart sank when he realised there was only the three of them. "No luck?" He asked.

"No. You've not heard anything?" Piper asked hopefully.

"Nothing," Leo said.

"Well we must have searched at least half of the Underworld, but it really is like searching for a needle in a haystack down there," Paige exclaimed.

"I've been trying to scry for them too, but haven't had any luck with that either," Leo added.

"Oh my God!" Phoebe uttered as she ran to the TV and turned it up.

"Phoebe, what are you…oh my God!" Piper exclaimed as she saw what was on the TV.

A voiceover was explaining how their news helicopter had followed a police chase through San Francisco that had ended with the bank robbers taking a young man hostage in a city alley. At the same time as the voiceover they were seeing vision of a group of men with masks on, one holding a gun to their hostage's head. They could all see, as plain as day, the hostage was Chris.

"How is that possible?" Paige asked.

"I don't care, orb us all there, quickly!" Piper demanded.

Paige didn't waste any time as they all held hands and orbed out.


	6. Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

"Ow, you're hurting me!" Chris complained to his captor, as he was roughly dragged backwards.

"Shut up, or you'll get a bullet in your head, kid," the man holding him replied.

Chris had seen many different types of weapons and vanquishing potions in his short life, the most common being the energy ball, but he had only ever seen guns on the television. Mainly when he had been sitting on his Dad's knee while he was watching the news. He didn't really know how they worked, but he guessed that a bullet in the head was not a good thing.

Chris looked all around frantically trying to locate Wyatt, but all he could see was a sea of guns pointing in his direction, which he worked out was also not a good thing.

"Stay back, I'm warning you, I will shoot him!" his captor yelled at the police who were starting to get a little too close for his liking.

Chris watched as the police started to back away, and he also felt the grip on his body loosen just a little. He considered whether he should try to orb away. He didn't know where he'd orb to, but anywhere was better than here. Then he remembered hearing his Mother telling Wyatt not to orb in front of strangers, so decided he was in enough trouble already with getting lost and everything, so he wouldn't risk it. He didn't know how a bullet in the head would feel, but he decided that it might be preferable to the consequences of defying his Mother.

"There's a door over here," Chris heard a voice behind him call out, and the next thing he knew he was being awkwardly dragged backwards at a much faster pace than before.

"Wyatt!" Chris called, trying one last time to call for his brother, before he was pushed to the floor of the dark room they had just entered.

Before he had a chance to move, Chris felt a knee being pushed into his back, and the gun pointing to his head once again.

"Quick, find something to tie his hands and feet," a voice yelled.

Chris lifted his face off the cold, dirty cement floor and yelled in the strongest voice he could muster, "I don't know what kind of demons you are, but my Mother and Aunts are the Charmed Ones and when they find out what you're doing to me, they will vanquish all of you!"

"Vanquish us! Well, we've got ourselves a wild one here, probably a drug addict." One of the men said as he started tying Chris's hands and feet.

"Ouch! Could you loosen them a little please, they are really hurting." Chris asked politely.

"That's the point!" The man said as he tightened the ropes even more.

Chris could feel his wrists and ankles start to burn as his captor pulled even harder on the ropes that bound them. Despite this, Chris remained silent realising that anything he said was only making his situation worse. When the man had finally finished, Chris found himself being dragged by his shoulders, and flung in the corner of the room. He could hear the men talking as he tried unsuccessfully to turn himself over into a more comfortable position. Ironically, this was a position he was used to being in, having turned over onto his stomach in his cot on numerous occasions, only to find it impossible to turn back again. Now, though, with his new orbing power, things would be different.

He turned his head and looked up at his captors, seeing that their attention was now focused on their conversation, and decided that maybe he could quickly orb himself out of the ropes that had already made his hands and feet go numb. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Immediately he disappeared in a cloud of orbs, reappearing right next to where he had just been lying, only now in a sitting position and without the ropes tied around his hands and wrists. He looked up at the men as he rubbed his wrists trying to get the circulation flowing again, luckily not one of them had noticed.

Chris sat in the corner quietly trying to work out how he was going to get out of this situation he was in before one of the men holding him captive finally realised he was no longer tied up.

"Hey, he's untied himself," he said sounding alarmed as he pointed his gun towards Chris again.

"How did he do that? There is no way he could have untied those knots himself," the man who tied them stated.

"I don't care how he did it, just tie him up again!" Another man demanded.

"No, please, I promise I won't orb out of here, just don't tie me up, the ropes really hurt," Chris pleaded politely. "I don't know why you're doing this, but I've had a really bad day, and I just want to go home."

"I've had enough of you and your weird talk. It's just our luck to find a spaced out druggie as a hostage."

"I'm not a druggie, I'm a witch." Chris said indignantly.

"A witch! Okay, if that's what your drugged out mind is telling you, fine, but whatever you are the situation is simple, either I tie you up or shoot you. It's your choice," the captor threatened as he moved towards Chris.

Chris, feeling tired, hungry and aching all over, could not control his temper any longer. He'd tried to be polite, but he realised there was no reasoning with these people. As the man was approaching, he lifted his hand, and using his telekinetic power motioned toward him sending him flying backwards into the other men, knocking them all over like pins in a bowling alley.

All the men, trying to recover from their tumble, immediately lifted their guns and pointed them to a now standing Chris.

"How did he do that?" One of them men shouted to the others.

Before anyone could answer, Chris said, "I told you I'm a witch, and I've tried to be nice, but you keep being rude, so I'm going to orb out and find my brother. But before I go," Chris motioned with his hand, and the guns in the men's hands all went flying toward him, "I'd better take these away from you, because you're going to end up hurting somebody."

Once he had all the guns he disappeared in a cloud of orbs in front of the stunned bank robbers.

Piper, Leo, Paige and Phoebe all materialised behind a conveniently placed dumpster at the end of the alley Chris was being held captive in. It was late in the afternoon and the alley was quite dark from the shadows of the surrounding buildings. They quickly moved to be part of the fast growing crowd, making sure their arrival had not been noticed, but soon realised that everyone's attention was well and truly focused on the drama unfolding in the middle of the alley.

"First thing we've got to do is find Wyatt, he has to be around here somewhere." Piper said as she started to look around.

"How are we going to get to Chris?" Phoebe asked, "It's bedlam around here. You can't freeze the whole alley, can you Piper?"

"Even if I could, I wouldn't be able to freeze the helicopters filming up there," Piper said as she pointed to the four helicopters from various news services circling above them.

"There's Wyatt," Leo called to them when he spotted his older grown up son standing near some police who were keeping the crowd from advancing onto the crime scene.

"Thank God," Piper said as she tried to make her way through the crowd. "Oh, this is ridiculous!" She cursed as she realised that it was going to be very difficult to get to him. With one hand movement she froze the group of people immediately in front of her.

"Piper, do you think that's wise?" Phoebe asked after seeing what she had just done.

"I need to get to my son, Phoebe, and everyone else is too busy watching the real life cop show to notice anything else."

Quickly, the family group made their way through the frozen crowd. "Wyatt," Piper called when she was close enough to be heard.

Wyatt turned, and the look of relief on his face when seeing his parents approaching was immediately evident. "Oh, Mum, Dad, I am so glad to see you," He said as Piper reached up to give him a hug, at the same time she put her hand up and motioned for the frozen crowd to go back to normal. "I didn't know what to do. It all happened so quickly," Wyatt started to explain.

"It okay, honey, we're here now and we'll fix this." Piper said as she gently put her hand on his cheek.

"How did you get here?" Leo asked him.

"I wasn't strong enough to orb us out of the Underworld, so we just kept orbing around down there until we came across a demon who knew Chris. Well not this Chris, the other Chris. He said he had helped him find demons that had something to do with his brother being evil," Wyatt explained.

Piper and Leo looked at each other knowing that the day may come when they'll have to explain the other Chris to Wyatt, but wordlessly they both knew that today was not the day.

"Anyway, the demon shimmered us here, and then these guys just came running down the alley and grabbed Chris, and then there were police everywhere. I tried to stay with Chris, but they wouldn't let me go near him. I didn't know whether to orb to him or what to do." Wyatt blurted out.

"You've done well, buddy," Leo told him, encouragingly. "Now we've got to work out what we're going to do."

"Well, all I know is I want my baby back, and if that involves freezing everyone here and grabbing him, then that's what I'll do. Chris must be going out of his mind at the moment." Piper said sounding very worried.

"We've got to be careful, Piper, if we expose magic the cleaners could take him away like they did the last time." Paige warned.

"Piper! Leo!" They all heard a familiar voice call.

They turned to see Darryl slowly making his way through the crowd towards them.

"Hi guys, " Darryl said as he looked at the worried family group in front of him.

"Hello Uncle Darryl," Wyatt replied.

Darryl opened his mouth to speak, but then did a double take at Wyatt, wondering who he was.

"This is Wyatt." Piper said.

"Wyatt? What, from the future?" Darryl asked.

"No, this is the Wyatt you know, he's just been accidentally aged 22 years by a spell." Paige told him.

"Of course," Darryl said incredulously. Then it dawned on him, "So the Chris I saw on the news who has been taken hostage is not Chris from the future, but the baby aged?"

"Exactly." Phoebe answered.

"It is so hard to keep up with you people! And I'm not even going to ask how he came to be out here." Darryl said shaking his head.

"Well, Chris and I got lost in the Underworld…" Wyatt started to explain.

"You know what, Wyatt, don't worry, I don't think Uncle Darryl really wants to know," Phoebe told him gently.

"Darryl, how do we get to Chris?" Leo asked.

"We've got to be careful, remember there's still an outstanding warrant for his arrest. I'd rather Sheridan not connect the dots on this one." Darryl told them.

As the family group were deep in discussion about Chris's rescue, they were unaware that Chris had made his escape and had materialised discreetly in another part of the alley. Crouched down in another doorway not far from them, he looked around and was relieved to see no one had seen him orb in. He stood up, still holding the guns he had taken from the bank robbers, and looked around looking for the safety and familiarity of his older brother. A little bit further up the alley he spotted the distinctive curly blonde hair belonging to Wyatt, and started to make his way in that direction. As Chris got closer, to his great relief and excitement, he could see his parents and aunts were also standing with Wyatt, and so moved more quickly.

Once he finally arrived, he was about to speak when he realised his parents were in deep conversation with Darryl, about something very important, so decided to wait until they had finished.

"We've been after these bank robbers for a while now, so trying to reason with the police is going to be very difficult." Darryl explained. "They've taken Chris into a storeroom and I don't think they'll hurt him because he's their ticket out of here."

"Well now that they've gone into a store room I could orb us in Piper, no one but the robbers would see us." Paige suggested.

"That's very dangerous, Paige, they could shoot you as soon as you materialise," Leo warned.

"Or Chris," Piper added.

"No, they won't shoot because they don't have their guns anymore," Chris added.

Shocked by the sound of the familiar voice coming from behind them, the whole family group turned to see if their suspicions were true. There, standing quietly was a very bedraggled looking Christopher Halliwell.

"I used my powers to take the guns away from them before I orbed out. I know we're not supposed to orb in front of strangers, Mum, but they weren't being very nice. They kept threatening to shoot me in the head, and the pain I had this morning with the hangover was bad enough." Chris explained calmly.

"Oh, Chris!" Piper exclaimed, her relief at seeing her younger son spilling over as she moved to hug him. Leo followed close behind.

"Can we please go home now, I just want to have something to eat and drink and rest. I'm so tired, it's been a really long day, and I think I've missed my afternoon nap. You know, I was never really a fan of that nap, but from now on I promise I'll never complain again."

Piper didn't know whether to laugh or cry as she listened to Chris's casual explanation of the ordeal he had just gone through. "Oh, honey, look at you," she said as she saw his grazed face, and then noticed the red burn marks around his wrists. "Of course we'll go home, right now," Piper said to him, "And we'll get you cleaned up and Wyatt will heal you, then you can have something to eat, and after that straight to bed."

"Sounds good!" Chris said smiling with relief. "Here, Uncle Darryl," he said as he handed the guns to him.

"How am I supposed to explain how I got these?" Darryl asked.

"Say you found them in that Dumpster for all I care, Darryl. The important thing is the robbers don't have them anymore, so you shouldn't have any problem apprehending them. As far as we're concerned though, it's over." Piper said to him.

"Come on, let's find somewhere we can orb."

The very relieved and now complete Halliwell familymoved away, leaving Darryl to sort out the bank robbers.


End file.
